March 15, 2006
SAN DIEGO - A day after cruising to an easy victory, the San Diego State men's tennis team had the tables turned against them, suffering a 6-1 defeat at the hands of No. 13 North Carolina on Wednesday at Aztec Tennis Center. With the loss, the Aztecs dropped to 4-5 on the season, while the Tar Heels remained unbeaten at 15-0.
In doubles competition, Benedikt Stronk and Billy Timu gave UNC's fourth-ranked tandem of Raian Luchici and Brad Pomeroy all it could handle at the No. 1 position, before falling 8-7 (7). The Aztec duo reached match point during the contest, but could not pull off the monumental upset as the Tar Heels swept all three matches.
Carolina then proceeded to put the contest away with three straight victories in singles play. At the No. 4 spot, Stephan Timu retired with a back muscle injury in his match with Sebastian Guejman, while Anthony Gomez and Robert Sabo were handed straight-set defeats at Nos. 5-6. The scarlet and black avoided the shutout, however, when Stronk exacted a measure of revenge against Pomeroy at the No. 2 position, posting a straight-set triumph, 6-4, 6-4.
SDSU returns to action this weekend when it hits the road for a pair of dual matches in Tucson, Ariz. On Saturday, the Aztecs battle the University of Portland in a neutral-site clash beginning at 2 p.m. MT, before going up against Arizona in a Sunday showdown starting at noon MT.
No. 13 NORTH CAROLINA 6, SAN DIEGO STATE 1
Doubles
1) No. 4 Raian Luchici/Brad Pomeroy (UNC) d. BenediktStronk/Billy Timu (SDSU), 8-7 (7).
2) Lenny Gullan/David Stone (UNC) def. No. 49 Christian Groh/Stephan Timu (SDSU), 8-0.
3) Sebastian Guejman/Derek Porter (UNC) def. Markus Dickhardt/Eugenio Romero, 8-5.
UNC wins doubles point
Singles
1) No. 7 Raian Luchici (UNC) def. No. 112 Markus Dickhardt (SDSU) 6-4, 7-6(5).
2) Benedikt Stronk (SDSU) def. Brad Pomeroy (UNC) 6-4, 7-5.
3) Derek Porter (UNC) def. Christian Groh (SDSU) 5-7, 6-3, 10-8.
4) Sebastian Guejman (UNC) def. Stephan Timu (SDSU), 1-0, Ret. Inj.
5) No. 116 Benjamin Carlotti (UNC) def. Anthony Gomez (SDSU), 6-2, 6-4.
6) Will Plyler (UNC) def. Robert Sabo (SDSU), 6-1, 7-5.
Order of Finish
Doubles: 2, 3, 1
Singles: 4, 5, 6*, 3, 1, 2
*match-securing victory
^super tie-breaker